NCAA March Madness Upsets and Close Games

It’s no surprise that everyone has a destroyed bracket after the first and second round of games in the NCAA Tournament. There have been some major upsets, and it has been quite a roller-coaster of a ride through this year’s tournament. Let’s take a look at the tournament’s greatest upsets so far.

No. 1 UVA vs. No. 16 UMBC; There is no surprise that this game ranks at the top of our list for greatest upsets this tournament. The current record for a 16 seed beating a 1 seed is now at 1-135. There has only been one team, UMBC, to beat a number one seed. What makes this even more special is the fact that UVA was the best team in the country.

No. 2 UNC vs. No. 7 Texas A&M; This game makes the top of the list because the beat down Texas A&M handed out was bad. UNC was the defending champion and a favorite in some brackets. The final score was 86 to 65, and that is really what makes this a major upset. It was the second round of the tournament, and Texas A&M had nothing more than an average season. Also, let’s not forgot what UNC fans said: “Wait ‘til basketball season.” This must be quite the disappointment.

No. 2 Cincinnati vs. No. 7 Nevada; This has to be by far my favorite upset of them all. Nevada came back from Cincinnati’s twelve-point lead and won the game. With a final score of 75-73, nobody expected this game to finish as so. It will be interesting to see where Nevada goes and if they can see more success in the tournament.

No. 6 Miami vs. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago and No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago; Not a lot to say here besides wow. Loyola-Chicago has Sister Jean and God on their side. Two major upsets from this underdog have made the tournament.

No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Buffalo; This is another game that was a major upset. I had my doubts with Arizona to begin with, starting with an early season loss to NC State in the Battle for Atlantis tournament, but in no way did I think they would lose to Buffalo. The final score was 89-68, and you can only call that a blow-out.

The next series of games will be close games that ended in either a loss or a win for the team, but the performance was surprising, and it kept us all on our toes until the fat lady sang.

No. 4 Gonzaga vs. No. 13 UNCG; It was quite a surprising performance for the 13th seed out of the West, UNCG. Keeping it close with a 68-64 loss, UNCG had an overall fantastic performance. Winning the Southern Conference Tournament and merely coming up short against Gonzaga, UNCG look like a promising team in the near future.

No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 11 Syracuse; You ever see something in a weird place and wonder how it got there, kind of like a turtle on a post? Yeah, that’s how I feel with this game. The final score of 55-53 saw Syracuse taking the dub and booting Michigan State out of the tournament. While this is considered an upset, it lists as a close game, considering it was close until the end. Syracuse had a rather disappointing regular season, being 10th in the ACC. However, Syracuse proved themselves, and this game for sure destroyed some brackets.

No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 7 FSU; – Quite an upset but close game. Xavier was the No. 1 seed from the South and somehow came up short against FSU. A close game throughout and the final score coming to a close at 75-70, we wish FSU the best of luck in the rest of the tournament.

No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Houston; Fun fact, the last time Houston lost on a buzzer beater, NC State was a National Champion. With a close game and a sad end to a great season for Houston, Michigan won on the buzzer beater 64-63. This was a close game and an even better game to watch.

One more mention is the UConn Womens basketball team win against St Francis PA. At halftime, UConn had 92 points. The final ended up being 140-52. What a great way to start the Women’s tournament!

We did a quick poll on Twitter to see if people had all four, three, two or just one team in the final four still standing. 32% said they only had one, 26% said they had two, and 19% said they had three. 23% said they had all their teams still standing, but we know they’re lying.

What do you think were the greatest upsets, and what games surprised you? Is your bracket destroyed, or still in decent shape? Let us know below!